There is an ongoing need for improved lettuce varieties. Presently, there are over a thousand known lettuce cultivars within the following groups: batavia lettuce, butterhead or head lettuce, iceberg lettuce, lollo lettuce, oakleaf lettuce, and romaine or Cos lettuce.
The drawback with most presently available romaine lettuce varieties is that the outer leaves, which are much larger than the inner leaves, are either unusable or must be cut to be usable. Because the whole leaf market specifies strict leaf sizing for an acceptable product, it is desirable to have more uniform leaf size. The leaf size of typical romaine is larger than what is acceptable in the whole leaf market. Another drawback of presently available romaine lettuce varieties is that the leaves are easily damaged during harvesting and washing. Thicker leaves prevent damage that can occur during these processes.
It is the object of the invention to provide new varieties of romaine or Cos lettuce with more uniform leaf size with dark green and thick leaves.